Quebec provincial police deployed to Ottawa to help clear protesters

Quebec provincial police are sending reinforcementsto Canada'scapitaltohelp cleara three-week-long occupation that's paralyzed the city'sdowntown core, a spokesperson for Quebec Public Security Minister Genevive Guilbault confirmed Thursday.

Louis-Julien Dufresne saysSret du Qubec(SQ) officersare heading to Ottawa "in case[the protests]get out of hand."

On Thursday morning, officerscarrying large bags piled onto white buses, which were seen leaving SQ headquarters in Montreal.Groups of officers were alsoseen conducting intervention training exercises.

Protests against COVID-19 health measures and vaccination mandateshave been going on in downtown Ottawa for 21 days now frustrating local residents, forcing many businesses to close shopand triggering the federal government to invoke Canada's Emergencies Act for the first time since it was passed in 1988.

Although some vehicles and protesters have now left the scene of the demonstrations, there are still hundreds refusing to depart,and police, now present in larger numbers,have been warning them they will be removed shortly.

According to Radio-Canada's sources, members of the SQ'stactical intervention squad areworking under the commandof the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

Sources say the SQ also plans to establish a command centre in Gatineau, on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River.

Dufresne would not say how many officers are headed to the National Capital region, nor how long the operation is expected to last.

The sources, however, saythis is a large deployment, estimating SQ officers trained in crowd control will be more numerous in Ottawa than in Quebec City, where another demonstration against COVID-19measures is planned for this weekend.

Meanwhile, municipal officials in Quebec City yesterday announced the city isgiving police more power to control traffic, parking and street closuresahead of the weekend protest.It has also reinstateda ban on outdoor cooking and on consuming alcohol in parks and other public spaces.

Crowds of protesters converged in front of Quebec'sNational Assembly on Feb. 5 and 6 in solidarity with the Ottawa demonstrators.Quebec City police maintained a heavy presence, and demonstrators cleared out by Sunday evening.